In Thursday's testimony, the 23-year-old witness said he was with Norris and three other men when they drove in a pickup to Raul's Beverage on Division Avenue south of Burton Street to buy a bottle of New Amsterdam liquor.

The store had just closed and the witness said he ended up walking away with Norris. The witness was headed to see a girl at Dickinson Street SE and Horton Avenue.

He said Norris, who he only knew as "Sip" at the time, told him he was broke. Norris allegedly announced his plan to rob three men who had just appeared in the area with a case of beer.

"He just gradually turned and went toward them," the witness said. "I just heard a big bang. That's when I turned around and saw one of the guys go down. The first guy went straight to the ground. The second guy, I believe he tumbled to the street. The third guy I don't know what happened."

The witness, who admitted he is part of a Latino gang and has a felony record for carrying a concealed weapon, said he then ran from the scene and did not see anything more.

The witness also admitted that he was carrying a .32-caliber revolver on his person and had fired it into the air earlier that night. He said he didn't know Norris had a gun.

In testimony, the witness said he had been drinking and smoking marijuana.

He testified that Norris called him at some point after the shooting.

"He just told me he was going to try to stay low and basically to keep my mouth shut," he said.

Justin McCarthy, an attorney representing Norris, began asking the witness questions about his gang affiliation and whether or not the three men were shot in some type of gang turf war.

McCarthy suggested that the witness was making up the story about Norris to protect someone in his gang, who may have committed the shooting.

Thursday's hearing was adjourned to a later date to continue testimony.